October 28th: Lindt Wafer

Kcal ??? Fat ??? Fat(sats) ??? Carbs ???

Last week I brought you all my review of the Lindt Nocciolatte which was the first sort of 'on the go' chocolate bar I had seen from Lindt. On that very same trip to WH Smith I also came across another similar product in the form of this Lindt Wafer bar. Whereas the Nocciolatte was produced in Italy this bar originated from Austria and came billed as 'milk chocolate with wafer and hazelnut creme filling'. If you read my Nocciolatte review you will be aware that it didn't quite reach the high exceptionally high standards set by the rest of the Lindt range. Despite this my expectations were pretty high and I was hoping that this bar could better represent the brand.

This bar came in a 35.0g size that I ate in one single sitting. The product looked very similar to the Nocciolatte incorporating the same royal blue colour scheme though this particular variant had a larger proportion of the wrapper covered with gold foil. The chocolate itself looked as superb as the outer packaging and was split into nicely sized chunks with each sporting a Lindt logo. When cut into I was surprised to see that the centre was a little randomly put together with no distinct layering between the wafer and hazelnut paste. Despite appearing a little jumbled a fine array of nutty, biscuity smells emanated from the chocolate which certainly set up a nice enticing prospect.

I wont take long describing the outer milk chocolate that coated this bar as I guess you can probably tell that it was utterly superb. Lindt have a cracking milk chocolate recipe and it is nice to see that they haven't used a cheaper alternative across either this Wafer or Nocciolatte bar. The chocolate was delightfully smooth and thick in melt and delivered a consistent double cream like taste that had just the right volume of cocoa to deliver a friendly chocolaty taste. Inside the filling tasted just as it appeared with the wafer and hazelnut creme filling a little all over place. Tastewise I had no problem with either and enjoyed their presence but personally I would have preferred a better distinction between the two with some sort of layering. In relation to other wafer products the one on offer here was well recieved as it delivered a fine set of flavours with some pleasant wheat and malt influences brought to the party. The hazelnut creme was pleasant though could have certainly have been stronger and failed to really make the desired impact I was hoping it would do. The real issue with the mixed up nature of the wafer and hazelnut creme was that neither really came through that strongle in the taste and the wafer didn't have the same crispness as it would would have done if it had just been one defined layer. On the plus side with the chocolate being so strongly flavoured this relatively small 35.0g bar actually made for a pretty fulfilling chocolate and complimented an afternoon coffee quite nicely.

Overall this may sound absurd but I think Lindt could learn something from the Nestle Kit Kat bar when it comes to the actual construction of this bar. The Kit Kat is a really well put together product with clear layering of outer chocolate, inner creme and crisp wafer. As I have alluded to many times above the wafer and inner creme were mixed together which I think failed to bring out the best of either. The wafer seemed to absorb the creme which left it with less of a crispness and meant that both had less of a distinguishable impact on the taste. Where the centre components were ever so slightly disappointing what could not be faulted was the outer milk chocolate and it delivered the high quality Lindt experience that I had come to expect. At the end of the day this wasn't the best Lindt offering I have ever had but it was a pretty tasty one nonetheless. I am a little unsure as to whether I will pick another up again anytime soon, however I think if you like your Lindt milk chocolate this could certainly be a product that you might want to try at some point.

8.1 out of 10